Ohio State football: Miller knows where he needs to improve

View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoFRED SQUILLANTE | DispatchOhio State quarterback Braxton Miller said he sometimes hurried his reads of the defense against Miami University. Still, he gained 368 yards of total offense.

Quarterbacks come under scrutiny on every football team. It’s the nature of the position.

For Braxton Miller in Ohio State coach Urban Meyer’s spread offense, the spotlight comes with extra wattage, for better or worse.

Meyer’s system demands that the quarterback analyze, in a split second, the defense and make the appropriate decision on almost every play. There are few plays in which he can put his brain on autopilot, hand the ball to a running back and consider his job done.

“He has to make a read on every play, so he’s going to make a few mistakes,” Meyer said.

Miller did make a few miscues on Saturday in a 56-10 victory over Miami University. Meyer wants Miller to have better ball-security; the sophomore doesn’t always keep the ball tucked tight. His footwork, particularly when throwing on the run, still needs improvement.

Miller got away with a potentially catastrophic play when he tossed the ball backward trying to avoid a sack while in the grasp of a defender. The Buckeyes caught a break when the officials called intentional grounding on the play.

“I’ll learn from my mistake,” Miller said yesterday. “I won’t do it again.”

As for his overall self-assessment of his 2012 debut, Miller said, “I can do better. I think I was going too fast and was making my reads too fast instead of being calm.”

All of this might be true. What’s also true is that all of the promise in Miller that Meyer has gushed about since his hiring looks to be well-founded.

Miller completed 14 of 24 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 161 yards against Miami. That included a dazzling 65-yard touchdown run to open the third quarter featuring a stutter step that froze an approaching defender at the RedHawks 30-yard line.

Throwing and running for a combined 368 yards is bound to get national attention, and some way, way, way premature Heisman Trophy talk was directed Miller’s way. That prompted an “oh, gosh,” of disbelief from Meyer when that was broached on Monday.

“I think he’s one of those freaks of nature that has a lot of ability, and great things can happen to him,” Meyer said. “But there won’t be billboards posted anywhere, or anything like that.”

The gaudy numbers are a double-edged sword. Miller carried the ball 17 times. That’s putting him at too much risk for injury, Meyer said. Miller said he’s fine with whatever is called but understands it might be wiser to pick his spots better.

“I think it’d be good for my body if I ran less,” he said.

But he came out of the game feeling fine.

“I wasn’t sore at all,” Miller said. “It had no effect on me at all.”

Saturday’s game against Central Florida figures to provide a stiffer test for Miller and the offense.

“They’ve got good athletes,” Miller said. “They cover well. We have to counter what they’re good at.”

Miller was thrust into a starting debut before he was ready last year. For all of his gifts, he looked like a freshman in 2011. Natural development and some heavy-duty prodding over the months from Meyer have greatly accelerated the growth curve.

Miller said he didn’t feel like a freshman anymore on Saturday.

“I wasn’t here last year, but I can compare him to March when we had him and the January workouts,” Meyer said. “He’s a much more mature player. His progression has been pretty positive.”